Microsoft Takes Cloud Push to Developers With Casablanca

The aim of the new C++-friendly APIs is to connect devices to continuous services running in the cloud, Microsoft’s S.Somasegar wrote in an MSDN blog post last week.

This is where “Casablanca” comes in. “Casablanca” is a set of libraries for C++ developers, taking advantage of some recent standard language features already available through Visual Studio.

“Casablanca” aims to make it significantly easier for C++ coders to consume and implement RESTful services. It builds on lessons from .NET, from Node.js, from Erlang, and from other influencers to create a modern model that is meant to be easy to program while still being scalable, composable, and flexible.

“For those of you looking to build Azure services in C++, ‘Casablanca’ comes with a Visual Studio wizard to set up everything up correctly,” Somasegar said, adding that developers can download Casablanca for Visual Studio 2010 and the upcoming Visual Studio 11 IDE. Developers can access Windows Azure cloud storage using the built-in C++ library bindings.

Last week, I blogged about some of our efforts to “meet developers where they are.” Our work around C++ has long been a significant component of that, with so much software in the world developed in the language and with its heavy cross-platform adoption. Taking C++ to the cloud with “Casablanca” is another exciting step in that journey.

Have your say: Will going direct to developers “where they are” (with C++) work? Will it drive Windows Azure adoption?